Dani Martínez Claims Victory on Stage 4 of CRO Race

Dani Martínez (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) captured victory on stage 4 of the CRO Race, sprinting ahead of a small breakaway group at the end of a 160km route from Lual to Rijeka. Martínez launched his sprint to finish almost two bike lengths ahead of second-placed Louis Vervaeke (Soudal-QuickStep) and third-placed Domen Novak (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). The result marks the Colombian rider's first win since securing two stage victories at the Volta ao Algarve in February 2024.

The 160km stage featured lumpy terrain and a frantic opening 60km where continuous attacks failed to form a lasting breakaway. A group finally established a lead inside the final 100km before splitting on the 10.3km Učka climb, which averaged a 7.7% gradient. Lennard Kämna (Lidl-Trek) crested the summit alone, but was caught and dropped with 15km remaining by a chasing group containing Martínez, Vervaeke, Novak, and Aimé De Gendt (Pinarello-Q36.5).

With 6km remaining, Martínez attacked from the lead group, briefly dropping Novak on a short climb before the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider rejoined with 1,500 meters to go. Cofidis rider Sam Maisonobe launched a late move from the peloton inside the final 5km to bridge across to the leaders and initiate the sprint, ultimately leading out the final push for Martínez.

Behind the leaders, Tobias Svarre (Uno-X Mobility) finished in the reduced chasing group 15 seconds behind to maintain his general classification lead by four seconds with two stages remaining. The chasing bunch was driven by teams including Bahrain Victorious and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA working alongside Uno-X Mobility to stabilize the gap on the technical descent toward the finish.